housekeeping tips

[alktdknckmom]

We are booked at a moderate resort for September. I want to leave something for housekeeping, but I wasn't sure if I should do it daily or all at once. What do the majority of people do? If you do it all at once, do you do it at the beginning or end of the trip? What's the going rate? There are 5 of us. 2 adults and 3 kids under 10.

Thanks!

 

[Ravenne]

I tip daily, or whenever we'd like them to come tidy up because you won't always get the same person tending to your room. If you wait until the last day, then only that person gets the tip. We'll leave a buck or two per person staying in the room.

 

[Toffeewoffy]

I've been told it's $1 per person per day, and I made up some very nice 'Mousekeeping' envelopes to put the money plus a small bar of UK chocolate in every day.

Shame our housekeeper was a bit lax though - one day we didn't even have a bathmat!

 

[nkereina]

Tipping is very subjective. When and how much you tip is entirely up to you. There's no rule of thumb. The housekeepers at WDW are unionized and don't rely on your tips like other tipped positions do (think servers and bellmen), so we typically only tip for a housekeeper that is exceptional or has gone the extra mile.

 

[ChadsGirl]

According to Emily Post, the rule of thumb is $2-$5 per day, left daily with a note marked "Housekeeping - Thank you"

http://www.emilypost.com/out-and-about/tipping/89-general-tipping-guidelines

 

[Polydweller]

Tipping is very subjective. When and how much you tip is entirely up to you. There's no rule of thumb. The housekeepers at WDW are unionized and don't rely on your tips like other tipped positions do (think servers and bellmen), so we typically only tip for a housekeeper that is exceptional or has gone the extra mile.

Exactly. At Disney the Teamster contract, which covers housekeeping, lists them as a non-tipped position and they are paid more than minimum wage by a fair amount. The contract is online if people are interested.

I agree that tipping in this situation is only for exceptional service.

 

[nkereina]

According to Emily Post, the rule of thumb is $2-$5 per day, left daily with a note marked "Housekeeping - Thank you"

http://www.emilypost.com/out-and-about/tipping/89-general-tipping-guidelines

This supposed "rule of thumb" was something developed by the Disney "community" and is only seen at Disney. As someone who used to work in the hotel industry, there is no industry standard like you see in restaurants (15-20%).

 

[alktdknckmom]

Thank you for all your responses!

I like that there are different schools of thought on the tipping -- I'm sure every situation is different. It helps to hear all your opinions.

My kids used to be a disaster when they were little with regards to dropping crumbs on the floor, mucking up mirrors, etc. so I always tipped, but now they are older and are not so messy!

I would like to hear from those of you who tip for exceptional service, what do you consider exceptional? I'm curious as to what is a housekeeper would do that might be over and above their normal duties. Would you tip if they left you extra toiletries or towels? Or if they make towel animals or something like that? Just curious.

Good point about not tipping just the one time since they may be different housekeepers each time.

Thank you!!

 

[Ravenne]

I agree that tipping in this situation is only for exceptional service.

I agree with rewarding exceptional service, but that's tricky because you can't ensure you're tipping the person who delivered the exceptional service. You don't always get the same housekeeper.

This supposed "rule of thumb" was something developed by the Disney "community" and is only seen at Disney. As someone who used to work in the hotel industry, there is no industry standard like you see in restaurants (15-20%).

I agree. I think people came up with it based on the exceptional service Disney is known/expected to deliver. I can't recall hearing about a "rule of thumb" for tipping housekeeping until I started lurking around the Disney community. I have family who have worked in hotel housekeeping and I remember them saying that seeing tips is very few and far between. I don't think too many people even think about tipping housekeeping. It's kind of hard to when you don't know who will be getting the money. It's not like at a restaurant when you can actually go through the motion of handing the money to the exact person who is helping you.

ETA:

I would like to hear from those of you who tip for exceptional service, what do you consider exceptional? I'm curious as to what is a housekeeper would do that might be over and above their normal duties. Would you tip if they left you extra toiletries or towels? Or if they make towel animals or something like that? Just curious.

Anything above what they are there to do is exceptional for me. Just plain thoughtfulness. As I've said, I have family who have been in hotel housekeeping so I have an idea of how it goes. They're scheduled a certain amount of rooms they have to complete within their work shift, meaning they have to work hard, and work fast, assuming there are no surprises along the way such as, guest arrived early, they want their room now, get it cleaned now...on top of all of the other rooms you're scheduled. They are hourly people so any overtime, especially if it's a result of them working too slow, is not acceptable. So if they're going to take the extra time to make a towel animal, or in one case during my last WDW stay, the mousekeeper took one of my kid's stuffed animals, and posed it on the curtains with a balloon we'd gotten to make it look like it was floating away...things like that takes time, thought, effort, and it just adds a little extra fun to our day, so I appreciate it and want to show my appreciation for them being thoughtful. Cleaning rooms is a physical and exhausting job so if they're still willing to take the time to make me smile, I want to return the favor and hope I can make them smile while they're sweating away emptying trash cans, vacuuming, and making our stuffed animals look like they're having fun too. Again, it's a tricky thing because how do you know you're tipping the person who delivered exceptional service, or the next person who comes along and delivers expected or average service?

 

[rwdavis2]

We tip every day. $5 a day. The only time we left more was when we stayed club level where we left $10. It seemed kind of cheap to only leave $5 when we're paying about $350 for a room.

 

[ciera321]

I agree that this is very subjective. If you want to tip, then tip, but if you don't want to, don't. We always leave $5 on the vanity with a note that says, "Thanks Mousekeeping". Just something we like to do....

 

[lbv7]

Exactly. At Disney the Teamster contract, which covers housekeeping, lists them as a non-tipped position and they are paid more than minimum wage by a fair amount. The contract is online if people are interested.

I agree that tipping in this situation is only for exceptional service.

The minimum wage in Florida is $ 7.93 an hour. The starting salary for a WDW housekeeper is $ 8.70 an hour. I am sure that the extra 77c gives them enough extra pay to stay at the Poly on vacation every year, probably lets them go on a Disney Cruise for Xmas, and gives them enough left over money on their average salary of about $ 17,000 to buy into DVC.

 

[nkereina]

I would like to hear from those of you who tip for exceptional service, what do you consider exceptional? I'm curious as to what is a housekeeper would do that might be over and above their normal duties. Would you tip if they left you extra toiletries or towels? Or if they make towel animals or something like that? Just curious.

Only time I have had exceptional housekeeping service was at CSR - the room was cleaned early in the day which I liked, she always left ample towels, she left towel animals, and she cleaned the finger prints off the mirror - sounds like a little thing, but cleaning things like mirrors/countertops are often overlooked when rushing through all the rooms. That's how I know she was detail oriented and diligent in the room, which is important.

The minimum wage in Florida is $ 7.93 an hour. The starting salary for a WDW housekeeper is $ 8.70 an hour. I am sure that the extra 77c gives them enough extra pay to stay at the Poly on vacation every year, probably lets them go on a Disney Cruise for Xmas, and gives them enough left over money on their average salary of about $ 17,000 to buy into DVC.

Do you tip the cashier at your local grocery store when they cash you out? How about the front desk clerk that's checking you in at the resort? Both of these positions make minimum wage (maybe slightly more) like the housekeepers, and they are doing you a service, yet it would never cross people's mind to tip them. Maybe the salary for a housekeeper is lower than it should be (like MANY jobs in the world) but they have union healthcare, union representation, and union contracts. Way more than many other positions see.

I have no issue with anyone who wants to tip a housekeeper - totally your prerogative and nothing wrong with it. My whole point was that tipping housekeeping is very much a Disney thing, not often seen in "the real world". Because of these boards (among other blogs), people feel compelled to tip their housekeepers, so I always like to mention it's not a tipping position like bellmen and servers who make below minimum wage and are required to report their tips.

 

[lbv7]

Do you tip the cashier at your local grocery store when they cash you out? How about the front desk clerk that's checking you in at the resort? Both of these positions make minimum wage (maybe slightly more) like the housekeepers, and they are doing you a service, yet it would never cross people's mind to tip them. Maybe the salary for a housekeeper is lower than it should be (like MANY jobs in the world) but they have union healthcare, union representation, and union contracts. Way more than many other positions see.

I have no issue with anyone who wants to tip a housekeeper - totally your prerogative and nothing wrong with it. My whole point was that tipping housekeeping is very much a Disney thing, not often seen in "the real world". Because of these boards (among other blogs), people feel compelled to tip their housekeepers, so I always like to mention it's not a tipping position like bellmen and servers who make below minimum wage and are required to report their tips.

The point of my post was to state that the housekeepers do not make " a fair amount over the minimum wage", because they don't.
As for tipping the cashier at my local grocery store or a front desk clerk - if they came up to my room, made the beds, vacuumed the carpet, emptied my trash cans, and cleaned the bathroom area for me then yes, I would leave them a tip.
Also, how do you know that bellmen and servers report all their cash tips - do they empty out their pockets and undergo a body search in front of their managers when they go home at night?

 

[Cheetie]

We're a family of four and tip $5 daily.

 

[Ravenne]

The minimum wage in Florida is $ 7.93 an hour. The starting salary for a WDW housekeeper is $ 8.70 an hour. I am sure that the extra 77c gives them enough extra pay to stay at the Poly on vacation every year, probably lets them go on a Disney Cruise for Xmas, and gives them enough left over money on their average salary of about $ 17,000 to buy into DVC.

Walt Disney Co. has made an offer to the unions representing thousands of employees at its Disney World park in Florida that would raise employees’ starting pay from $8.03 to $10 over the course of the next two years.

The rest of the article can be found here: http://consumerist.com/2014/04/18/disney-world-proposes-raising-starting-wages-to-10hour/

Are they making wages that affords them a stay at the Poly? No, but then again, not too many people can truly afford rack rates there, not just WDW housekeepers. At least Disney is making an effort and there are MANY underpaid workers who would love an extra $2/hr starting pay.

 

[never2old4fun]

I always tip our housekeepers unless there is a major screw-up on their part.
If I can't afford 4 to 5 dollars a day for the ladies making my bed and cleaning my bathroom then I have no business taking a Disney vacation!
And please quit the union bashing....just because they're represented does not put them in a special class of wage earners.